No Chikni chameli for Amit Kumar

Singer Amit Kumar, who enthralled the ‘80s and the early ‘90s with his soul-stirring romantic hits is back to singing for films. And this time, he’s lending his voice to the evergreen song, Naino Mein Sapna, that was originally sung by his father, the legendary Kishore Kumar, for Sajid Khan’s remake of Himmatwala. While the 61-year-old is all excited about being back to the limelight after years, he says that he doesn’t regret being out of the “rat race”. “I’m happy with whatever I have achieved in life. I have no regrets for not doing the Humpty Dumpty kind of music that they compose these days. I could never imagine myself to be a part of the ‘Chikni chameli’ genre of music,” says Kumar, who is known for several classics.

How did Naino mein sapna happen?I got a call from Sajid (of music director duo Sajid-Wajid) that he’s recreating this song in Himmatwala, and he said that no one but I could lend that same texture to this song that dad had.

Why did you stop playback singing?I didn’t stop. I just took a backseat because frankly speaking, I was not much in favour of the music that was being composed.

Did RD Burman’s demise move you away further from playback?Of course. Pancham was a great friend, I sung 170 songs for him. I remember he was very upset after we did Yaad aa rahi hai (Love Story). He said the song sounded like a bhajan (laughs). Later of course, it went on to become a super hit.

What’s your equation with your step-brother, Sumit?Sumit is like my son... I am 30 years elder to him! He’s of course very dear to me, and soon we are launching our online music store, Kumar Brothers’ Music. The first album will have songs composed by both of us, and written by Leenaji (Chandavarkar).

What’s your opinion about the many ‘Kishore copycats’ who have made their names?I have nothing against them. Guess all of them are working hard, and it’s nice to see so many people idolising dad.

Do you feel pressurised on being the ‘great Kishore Kumar’s’ son?I am his son, why should I feel pressurised? I am proud to be his son.